As our eyes are opened up to the expanding communication connections
between companies and the world they live in, a new concept has emerged
known as Social Relationship Management (SRM). One might think this is
just CRM but I will try to explain how SRM goes beyond, and even
CRM is about managing relatively small and very defined interactions
between the company and its clients. The communication is driven by the
company and through phone, physical meetings and email. The structure of
the CRM systems often follows the organizational structure of the
company and all activities are driven from the company to the outside.
SRM is about pulling the outside closer to the company and joining
the dialogue with the goal of earning reputation and awareness. The
foundation for SRM is monitoring the ties a company maintains to the
outside across the organization. This should be a structured monitoring
as described in my previous post.
This is the very opposite to CRM, where data collection is based only
on the ongoing direct communication between the company and its
Typical SRM goals include building brand equity, increasing sales,
improving customer service, informing of product management decisions
and focusing business strategy on opportunities for differentiation.
This is then done by engaging and activating the outside contacts by
building and/or creating positive sentiment for the company and its
Where CRM is often driven is from the sales team. SRM will more often
be driven by marketing/communication. However, as opposed to CRM,
social communication will not follow organizational lines and will be
more casual. This is exactly why SRM is needed to put structure into the
dialogue and make it effective, measurable and profitable.